It is common to use honeycomb reinforcement for various structural elements such as airplane wings and fuselage elements. This type of reinforcement provides strength in conjunction with weight reduction which are important features in airplane construction. In addition, in present day vehicle construction, impact strength has become a significant factor as well as weight reduction and cost factors.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a structural module which is strong and light and which can be produced at a significant cost reduction in comparison to metallic welded assemblies.
It is a further object to provide a process for manufacturing structural modules in an economically feasible manner for high production items.
Other objects and features involve the use of various geometric structures which can be made by any of the common molding processes such as vacuum forming, pressure forming, stamping injection molding, compression molding, blow molding, fiber glass hand lay up and so forth. The parts are preferably designed with draft angles where necessary in the molding process selected and can be designed for planar layout or stacking to build in impact strength and shear strength. The designs lend themselves to contour designs to conform to the requirements of the final product such as vehicle doors, truck decks, vehicle hoods, and other body parts. One or both sides of a structure can be contoured.
By filling the hollow geometric shapes with a light foam, added strength can be achieved as well as sound proofing.
Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent in the following description and claims in which the principles of the invention are set forth together with details to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the invention all in connection with the best mode presently contemplated for the invention.